FHP Uses Airplanes To Catch Speeders

Published March 23rd, 2010

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There are times that you may not notice a heavy police presence on Interstate 75, but you can be pretty sure that many times, there's a bear in the air.
Florida is one of the few states that employs aircrafts to monitor the highways.
Florida highway patrol Sgt. Andy Foote says his cruiser takes him to new heights. Foote is one of 9 FHP troopers who's highway is the sky.
"We have lines on the roadway, and they're measured at a minimum of 1,320 feet, a quarter mile distance," said Foote.
When a car approaches the first white line, Foote starts his stopwatch. The amount of time it takes the driver to get to the second line, gives Foote the driver's speed.
"I'll maintain visual contact with that vehicle and deliver it to the ground units standing by on the shoulder" added Foote.
In thirty minutes, Foote helped toopers on the road pull over seven cars. Foote says drivers frequently challenge aircraft speeding tickets; a common excuse: "troopers got the wrong car."
"We're looking right at the vehicle, we don't take our eyes off of it until it's delivered to the ground unit. The ground unit is actually behind that car making the stop," said Foote.